Archives for April 2009

Earlier this year, Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism Canada Minister Jason Kenney announced that Canada was considering a reduction in immigration numbers in 2009, based on economic uncertainty. Having met with his provincial and territorial counterparts to study the demand for immigration in regional labour markets, Minister Kenney has announced that the need for immigration remains strong in Canada. Immigration levels for 2009 will therefore not be reduced.

Though Canada has not been immune to rising unemployment numbers in the current economic downturn, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has decided that immigration numbers will not be reduced for 2009, maintaining a target of approximately 250,000 new Permanent Residents.

“Canada is facing a long-term labour shortage so the government is not going to turn off the immigration tap only to have to turn it back on later,” stated Minister Kenney. British Columbia and Alberta alone are going to need an additional 600,000 foreign workers over the next five years, he went on to say, as aging workers retire and their economies continue to expand.

Canadian population and labour force growth rely heavily on immigration. A recent Statistics Canada demographic report credits net international migration as the main driver of population and labour force growth.

“There continue to be acute labour market shortages in certain businesses, certain industries and certain regions. And our government believes that the worst thing we could do during this time of economic difficulty is to starve those employers who are growing of the labour they need to fuel their prosperity.”

Nevertheless, as the worldwide economic downturn evolves, so too may Canadian immigration legislation. As evidenced over the past year, Canada’s Immigration Minister has the authority to modify immigration regulations without notice to better respond to Canada’s labour market needs.

Most notably, the list of 38 qualifying occupations for the Federal Skilled Worker category of immigration (having a year of work experience in one of them is the common way to qualify) is based on Canada’s labour market needs, and is currently being evaluated to determine whether changes should be made.

Similarly, the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has also been revising its list of qualifying occupations for the popular U.S. Visa Holder category, which fast-tracks applicants without requiring a job offer.

Potential applicants who are qualified for either of these programs under current work experience requirements are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible, to avoid being subject to new government regulations.

The good news for now is that, according to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, “We have no plans in Canada, nor are we under any pressure, to reduce immigration in any way during the recession.”

The Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) has announced that the list of qualifying occupations for the popular U.S. Visa Holder category is currently under revision. It is anticipated that a new list of qualifying occupations will likely be more restrictive than the current one. Applicants who qualify under existing requirements are encouraged to submit their applications as soon as possible, to avoid being subject to new government regulations.

At present, Alberta is revising this list of high demand occupations based on changing labour market needs in the province. Earlier this month, the AINP Office had announced that a new list would be published on April 15th. The new list was not released on this date and the notice has since been removed from the AINP website, with no later date determined.

A new occupation list may be implemented at any time, without notice. At that time, applicants whose occupations are removed from the list will no longer qualify under this fast-track category.

At present, the AINP continues to accept applications from U.S. H1B holders with work experience in all the occupations on the current list.

If you qualify for the U.S. H1B program at this time, you are advised to submit your application as early as possible. Find out if you qualify.

The free flow of skilled workers across provincial and national boundaries has become increasingly relevant in the age of free-trade markets and globalization. To remain economically competitive with an efficient labour market, Canada has been taking steps to improve labour mobility and foreign credential recognition both at home and abroad. Agreements have recently been signed both at the provincial level, and between Canada and the European Union.

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) Minister Diane Finley has recently signed three new agreements with her counterparts in the European Union to improve labour mobility between Canada and the EU. The goals of these agreements are to facilitate international labour mobility, improve foreign credential recognition, and strengthen the partnership between Canada and the European Union.

One of the agreements is a commitment to organizing two roundtable discussions on foreign credential recognition and labour mobility; one in Europe later this year and the other in Canada in 2010.

The other two agreements are narrower in scope, focusing on engineers and environmental professionals. They seek to align practices in the engineering field and to develop mutual certification frameworks for environmental workers in Canada and the EU. Other sectors will be considered for future agreements.

The EU and Canada have also agreed to open negotiations on a new free-trade pact at the beginning of May. One of the goals is to allow the temporary movement of workers between Canada and the 27-member bloc.

At the national level, British Columbia (BC) recently became the first province in Canada to introduce legislation to clear the way for full labour mobility for all trades and professions across the country. The new BC bill will allow a person who has been certified in their trade or profession in any Canadian jurisdiction, to work in their field in any other jurisdiction in Canada. Similar legislation is being enacted across the country as the federal and provincial governments work towards full national labour mobility.

“This legislation provides a solid foundation for out future success, ensuring we have the human resources BC will need in the coming decades,” stated BC Minister of Advanced Education and Labour Market Development, Murray Coell.

BC has been a leader in the move towards a national labour mobility accord. The province recently participated in a three-way joint cabinet meeting with the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan to collaborate on opening up Western Canada to new opportunities and to full labour mobility.

The Government of Canada has also been working to improve foreign credential recognition and workplace integration of newcomers. Minister Finley and Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism (CIMC) Minister Jason Kenney recently announced an investment of $50 million over the next two years to help newcomers with credential recognition so that they can work in their fields and contribute to the Canadian workforce more effectively.

“We compete in a global marketplace where the knowledge of our workforce is the key to our economy and our prosperity,” stated Minister Finley. “That’s why Canada’s Economic Action Plan will invest $50 million over two years to speed up the process of assessing and recognizing foreign qualifications.”

Through this investment, new principles will be developed to guide the recognition of foreign credentials and new standards for the timely treatment of qualification recognition will be implemented. Additionally, a list of priority occupations will be created and the Government of Canada will develop programs to help people begin the accreditation process in their home countries, before landing in Canada.

The province of Manitoba has implemented new regulations to better protect temporary foreign workers from unscrupulous recruiters and employers that have surfaced in Canada and abroad. The new legislation is designed to prevent any worker from paying to find a job in Manitoba, requiring recruitment agencies be licensed by the province for better regulation. National organizations are calling for similar legislation to be enacted across the country.

Manitoba’s new Worker Recruitment and Protection Act prohibits recruitment agencies from charging fees to foreign workers; currently one of the most glaring problems with temporary foreign worker recruitment in Canada.

Technically, recruitment agencies are meant to charge Canadian employers to find foreign workers for them to hire. Nonetheless, there have been cases where recruiters have taken advantage of foreign worker ignorance to this norm, requiring instead that foreign workers pay recruiters to find them jobs in Canada.

To enforce the new legislation which prohibits this, Manitoba now requires that all foreign worker recruitment agencies be registered and licensed by the province. Employers who wish to hire temporary foreign workers must also be registered.

The Act requires that both employers and recruitment agencies submit detailed records about the place of employment, the workers’ duties and wages, and up-to-date contact information for the worker.

“By keeping a registry of where these workers are, who recruited them, and what they were promised when they were hired, you finally have jurisdiction with the political will and regulations to penalize and weed out employers and recruiters who abuse foreign workers,” said Wayne Hanley, national president for the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW Canada).

Hanley has called for all provincial and territorial jurisdictions to adopt similar legislation to ensure that human rights of foreign workers are protected across the country.

To ensure that labour-starved employers in Manitoba will still have access to the foreign workers they need, the provincial government provides direct assistance with foreign worker recruitment to registered employers.

“Where employers are unable to meet their labour needs locally, we can connect them directly with skilled workers through established international partnerships that are safe and effective,” stated Nancy Allan, Manitoba’s provincial Labour Minister.

Though it is one of the three categories of federal business immigration, the Self-Employed Person category is the only one that does not require a monetary investment or a minimum personal net worth. It is simply a fast-track option for those who have relevant experience in an occupation in art, culture, recreation, or sport, as listed by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), and have the ability to become self-employed in Canada. It is also open to people who wish to purchase and run a farm in Canada.

If you were to ask me what I consider to be the greatest benefit of being a Canadian, I’d say it’s that I get to pass citizenship on to my children. While it’s still true for me, its no longer the case for one of my kids who happened to be born in the U.S..